On the Pacific battlefield, a brutal island battle is still ongoing - the Battle of Guadalcanal.
On August 7 last year, the US military began a partial counterattack, landing on Guadalcanal Island in the Solomon Islands, and launched a long-term battle with the Japanese army. Currently, the two sides have conducted 30 large and small naval battles in more than five months. In the remaining times, both sides lost 24 combat ships above destroyers. The U.S. Navy suffered about 3,300 casualties and about 2,500 injuries; the Japanese Navy suffered as many as 25,000 casualties.
Li Junhao knew that this battle was coming to an end, because the Japanese navy was no longer able to support the defenders on the island. Now more than half of the Japanese troops on Guadalcanal should have starved to death, and this most brutal strangulation battle was about to come to an end! It was also the beginning of the Japanese army's disastrous defeat in the Pacific.
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On February 20, Li Junhao received a battle report from the Allied Far East Headquarters: The Battle of Guadalcanal was over.
In this brutal and bloody battle that lasted for more than half a year, the U.S. Navy and Army participated in the battle with a total strength of 80,000. A total of about 5,000 people were killed, 6,700 were injured, and 24 warships, 3 transport ships, and about 250 aircraft were lost.
The Japanese navy and army participated in the war with 70,000 troops, and about 50,000 people lost their lives. They also lost 24 warships, 16 transport ships, 892 aircraft, and 2,362 pilots.
Among them, the Japanese army deployed about 36,000 army troops on Guadalcanal, and about 14,000 people were killed in the battle. More than 9,000 people died of injuries or illness or are missing, with a total death of nearly 23,800 people, and more than 1,000 people were captured.
In this protracted battle, the Japanese army not only suffered heavy losses to its navy and aviation forces, but also its most elite 2nd Division and other units of the army. The losses of large warships, aircraft and skilled pilots were even more difficult for the Japanese army to make up for. .
Li Junhao laughed. He knew that with the end of the Guadalcanal Battle, the strategic posture of the United States and Japan in the Pacific was completely changed. The Japanese military's advantages in sea and air power were gone. The strategic initiative was lost and they would have to Shift from strategic offense to strategic defense.
The US military will use the next period of time to speed up the preparation of land, sea and air forces, and will launch a strategic counterattack in a few months!
He was thinking, how can he play a greater role in the counterattack?
At this time, he had a goal in mind: to win more battles and become a five-star general after the war, just in time to replace MacArthur, who was kicked out of the army, and write in the military history of the United States! ——
In mid-March, the commander of the Japanese Burmese Front, Tomofumi Yamashita, came to Bangkok from the Malay Peninsula with the 5th Division to establish the front headquarters. Subsequently, the 48th Division, which was transferred from the 14th Army that attacked the Philippines, occupied Bangkok. The 38th Division drawn from the Sixteenth Army of the Dutch East Indies (Indonesia) also arrived one after another. The three divisions did not disperse, but gathered in Bangkok to establish defenses. Apparently they were afraid of being attacked by the Allied Forces in the Indo-Burmese Theater. To strike.
Currently, the main force of the 105th Battle Group of the Allied 101st Group Army is stationed in Nakhon Sawan, which is only more than 200 kilometers away from Bangkok. However, both sides have maintained a certain degree of restraint because neither is ready for a battle.
The first to launch the attack was the 10th Air Force in the Indo-Burma Theater. The P-40 teams it dispatched continued to intercept and kill the Japanese Zero fighters of the 21st Independent Flying Group in the southwest airspace of Thailand. In only half a month in mid-to-late March, It shot down 26 of its aircraft, but only lost 4 of its own, and all the pilots were rescued by the Allied rescue team!
Unable to withstand such losses, the 21st Flying Group could only huddle over Bangkok and became an airport escort.
This situation makes General Yamashita Fengfumi both angry and helpless. He can only urge the country to transport the newly formed 19th Air Force as soon as possible. However, in view of the current battlefield situation, it needs to be sent to the Malay Peninsula and Phnom Penh first. After the large fleet is in place, , then move forward to regain air supremacy.
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Li Junhao basically stayed in Mandalay, mainly watching the training of the 50,000 northern Shaanxi recruits, and occasionally went to Tonggu to discuss the latest airborne tactics with Li Qiwei...
During this process, he also specially designed a compact version of an all-terrain vehicle using a motorcycle engine. The maintenance team of the 82nd Airborne Division Logistics Brigade built several prototype vehicles, which were equipped with high-level dual-purpose M2 heavy machine guns, Heavy weapons such as 20mm aviation cannons, automatic grenade launchers, and recoilless rifles have been well received by airborne troops after trials.
At present, the drawings of this all-terrain vehicle have been sent back to China. Ernst has arranged trial production and sent it to the Ministry of War for inspection. It is believed to be another big order. At present, the first batch of special-purpose airborne all-terrain vehicles and supporting special-purpose parachutes have been shipped from China and will be sent to Myanmar in another half month.
This incident made Li Junhao's prestige in the 82nd Airborne Division much higher. Li Qiwei was also very grateful to him. With armed all-terrain vehicles that can accompany soldiers in airborne landings, the heavy firepower level of the airborne troops can be greatly enhanced, allowing the airborne troops to While fighting better, they also increase their battlefield survivability, which is of course extremely important to him as the chief officer.
All the U.S. military and expeditionary officers and soldiers were surprised and admired by the painstaking and conscious training of the recruits in northern Shaanxi and the speed of their progress. Sun Liren and other Kuomintang generals said to Li Junhao in private: When you see these recruits, you can see the underground party. The future - a force with faith, well-trained, well-equipped, and complete tactics will be a formidable force!
In this regard, Li Junhao said on the surface that he needed such an army to fight against the Japanese army. The stronger the better! But he was secretly happy in his heart, this was exactly his purpose!
Because both parties avoided suspicion, Li Junhao and General Peng Xuefeng of northern Shaanxi were not close. In the eyes of outsiders, the two met either at military meetings or because of training and equipment issues. It seemed that they had never had any private contact, but only The two of them knew that they had known each other for a long time!
Speaking of which, Peng Xuefeng is the general named by Li Junhao. In addition to knowing that he is an excellent commander and strategist, more importantly, in his original history, he will be in a battle in the second half of next year. Sacrifice, he hopes to change this outcome.
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Entering April, Li Junhao suddenly thought of something and contacted the domestic CIA, asking it to strengthen cooperation with the Naval Intelligence Agency to strengthen the deciphering of Japanese naval telegrams near the Solomon Islands in the near future, and strive to find opportunities to kill those in the area. Japanese Navy Admiral Yamamoto Isoroku!
Donovan and Wen Qiangzhe, who presided over the work of the CIA, were very puzzled, but they still faithfully carried out his orders, and soon got the news, which shocked the CIA and Naval Intelligence to General Panson. !
(End of chapter)
